Family Adjustments
by dpluver
Summary: A collection of post-PP drabbles focusing on Fenton family bonding. Day 6- Danny's on the No-Fly list and dpluver loses her mind. Hilarity ensues.
1. No Applause, Please

**There aren't enough post-PP family bonding stories on FFnet, so this will be my attempt at changing that. Each entry is unconnected to each other (just a bunch of one-shots) and may be told in multiple points of view. Lots of Fenton family bonding headed your way :)**

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><p>Danny didn't like being the center of attention. He found it irksome and oftentimes humiliating, especially around his peers. If he had to pick the absolute worst scenario, however, it would be having to go ghost during a family dinner.<p>

It had been one month since the near-destruction of the planet. The enormous asteroid, composed entirely of ectoranium, was nowhere near Earth's orbital path anymore. Things had, more or less, returned to normal for the majority of Earth's population. This normalcy, of course, avoided Amity Park and its residents.

There were certainly some positive changes, such as Axoim Labs receiving a massive governmental grant to research the properties of ectoranium to prevent a scare like that from occurring in the future. Overseeing the project was Valerie's dad, allowing the two to return to their comfortable lifestyle they had enjoyed before the ghost dog incident.

Tucker and Sam were thrilled with their post-asteroid lives as mayor of Amity Park and internationally-famous superhero's girlfriend, respectively.

Danny, on the other hand, was not so happy with some of the new changes. Photographers and news hounds chased him on a daily basis. New ghosts were appearing everyday, hoping to be the one to defeat the legendary Danny Phantom.

For weeks, Danny was constantly gone, having no time left for his family, let alone schoolwork and friends. He was endlessly tired, but at least he finally had a valid excuse for falling asleep in Lancer's class.

To remind her son that he was still a part of a family, Maddie had mandated that the family eat dinner together Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

Tonight was Wings Wednesday. Somehow, Jack had managed to grill some buffalo wings without infecting them with ectoplasmic radiation, and Maddie was hurriedly preparing a salad, per Jazz's request.

Danny trudged his way over to the table, determined to show his family that he still cared enough to at least stay awake during their silly family dinner night. After all, his mom had gone to great lengths to make it worth it: a neat white tablecloth, a row of four green candlesticks in the form of ghosts, the _good_ silverware, and actual dishes to top it all off. It was so un-Fenton-like that Danny could hardly believe it, but it was a nice change from the lonely, frozen tv box dinners of the past.

For four solid weeks, Danny had managed to brush off his ghost fighting activities in pursuit of a normal family life. Sure, he had answered plenty of his parents' questions, but the actual Danny Phantom part had been quite a rarity around them.

Unfortunately, he realized that was all about to change when his ghost sense suddenly went off. He had been so close to getting in just one bite of chicken, but of course, his duty came first.

"Can I be excused?" he asked lamely, hating the overly excited looks his parents were darting at him.

"That was your ghost sense, wasn't it?" his mom asked in a breathless tone as she scribbled down several notes into a notebook that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

Danny blushed as he noticed his parents staring unblinkingly at him, as though waiting expectantly for something utterly amazing to happen. He had never felt embarrassed about his ghost sense before, but with their gazes boring down on him like this, he almost couldn't suppress the desire to turn invisible and hide for the remainder of the evening.

"I think the ghost is in the backyard," his mom said casually as several windows were smashed in. Glass shards splattered across the linoleum floor, but none of the Fentons seemed too alarmed by this. Just another ordinary day at Fenton Works. "Should we fight it off or-"

"I'll do it," Danny mumbled, getting to his feet. Suddenly he realized how much of a chore ghost fighting had become. And now that his parents knew about it, he was definitely expecting a hefty raise in his allowance!

"I'm go-" feeling another wave of inexplicable insecurity wash over him, Danny shook his head. "Oh forget it."

He transformed, allowing the blue rings to pass up along his body, in full view of his sister and parents. Even after a month of them knowing about his secret, he still couldn't get over the sheer…_weirdness_ of it all. At least Jazz had the common courtesy to not humiliate him further by _applauding._

"THAT'S RIGHT DANNY! YOU SHOW THAT GHOST WHO'S BOSS, SON!"

Outside, Danny smacked his hand against his head as he silently begged his dad to stop with the obnoxious verbal encouragement. While Danny appreciated it when they accepted him for who he was, his parents, well...had a _slight_ tendency to go a little overboard sometimes.

Then again...

The fact that they were still cheering once the fight was over- instead of drawing their own weapons in order to prepare to rip him apart, molecule by molecule- was more than worth the occasional outburst of Embarrassing Parents Syndrome.

Maybe Danny could get used to this after all.

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><p><strong>Should I continue? I don't know if people even like post-PP stories, just because I've seen so few of them as of late. If people seem interested in these types of stories then my next entry will probably be <em>The Fenton Menace<em>: Post-PP style. Haven't written it yet, but it's an idea that's been buzzing around in my head for a while. **

**Let me know what you thought :)**


	2. Insanity, Part Deux

**Thank you for the comments on the previous entry. Now that I know people will actually _read_ this stuff, I have tons of ideas I'm getting ready to write! This installment is based on _The Fenton Menace_, with a post-PP spin on it (sorry, no Youngblood though…couldn't figure out how to include him this time but maybe in a future one-shot). Written from Jazz's POV, in accordance to the episode's voice-over. Hope you like it :)**

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><p>"<em>Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.<em>" –Albert Einstein

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><p>It didn't exactly work before, but who's to say another family camping trip would be such a bad idea? After all, Danny could no longer be considered 'crazy' by the usual psychological standards after I discovered that the ghost he had been fussing about was, in fact, real. And now that his secret was out, it helped that my parents wouldn't be hysterically pursuing poor Danny's alter ego.<p>

Under these conditions, things ought to go relatively smoothly this time around, yes?

To ensure that I would be right, I reinstated the "No Ghost Fighting" rule once again, with parental back up in case Danny overstepped the rule.

"Just because you can turn invisible doesn't mean you're exempt from this family's rules, young man," my mom warned Danny as we all piled into the RV.

My dad tried sneaking into the vehicle without me noticing, but given that I'm more observant than the TSA, I managed to pry away three different ghost weapons from him before we departed. No jumpsuits, no weaponry, and potential punishments in place to deter a certain someone from using their innate abilities anyway. My plan was as flawless as ever, and just to keep our family safe, I allowed everyone to bring a Fenton Thermos.

The ride out to the desert was duller that I remembered it being our first time. Sure, Mom played her usual childish games of "I Spy" and Dad would occasionally mutter complaints about his attire, but it was eerily quiet in here, given the boisterous family we usually are.

I suppose now that Mom and Dad are no longer on their one track-minded rants about Danny Phantom, they have little else to talk about. They had been developing new weapons since the near-catastrophe, but after seeing Danny consistently outperform them with his own powers, a little something had died within them. I had yet to pinpoint exactly what that was, but it was saddening to see my parents trying to support their son while realizing how pathetic their own manmade inventions were compared to Danny's abilities in most circumstances.

Still, these powers were quite useful, and as the only ones who still held authority over Danny- town hero or not- my parents often used these to their advantage.

"Danny, sweetie, could you move the tent further up the hill? I don't like the rough ground your father pitched it on."

Rolling his eyes, Danny started to transform, but I immediately stopped him.

"No! Mom, you guys promised this would be a weekend—just forty eight short hours—of nothing ghost-related! And the same goes for you," I said, turning to Danny. The blue rings disappeared at once, and he almost looked relieved.

Mom wasn't too thrilled about this, but we were _camping!_ It was supposed to be a little rough, what else did she expect?

Unfortunately, things only went downhill from here. I acknowledge that I have a problem with needing to control every little thing, but did my family _really _have to make things so difficult for me? It seemed as though everywhere I turned, there would be something ghost-related happening.

Dad and Danny cracking jokes about the Box Ghost.

Mom asking Danny which ghost posed the greatest threat to Amity Park at the moment.

Danny making references to our last camping trip and telling my parents about how I was wrong about Youngblood's existence.

And here I was, off to the side, trying to convince myself that the Fenton family wasn't _just_ involved with ghosts. We could find other things to talk about, right?

Within the next forty eight hours I was proven wrong more times than I could possibly recall in my entire life. It turns out that my dad managed to smuggle one or two weapons under my radar, and Mom didn't even chastise Danny for using his ghost ray to clear a path through the bushes while we were on a nice, normal hike. Or what should have been, anyway.

Saturday night, when we were cooking hot dogs around the campfire, my mom got too close to the flames and burned herself. Without her jumpsuit's gloves to protect her, that left a nasty burn. Just as I offered to go and retrieve the first aid kit, however, Danny told me he could fix it.

Admittedly, I was intrigued, even if it meant yet another breach in my no-ghosts rule.

Taking Mom's hand, he closed his eyes and concentrated. We all gasped as his hands glowed blue for a brief moment and left a thin layer of ice around her hand. When the glowing stopped, Danny easily thawed the ice with his warm, human hands, leaving nothing behind but clear skin.

"Danny," my mom said in the same awestruck voice she always had whenever she discovered another one of my brother's ghost powers. "Thank you sweetie! Where have you been all these months, when I've burned myself on the stove?"

Danny chuckled nervously. "Well, that's sorta when you guys were still trying to destroy me."

Mom laughed. "Oh that's right! Those were fun times."

I would hardly refer to nearly ripping your son apart as "fun times" but I didn't bother pointing that out. Finding myself rendered useless once more, I sat back down, a little further from my family this time. I didn't mind that Danny was getting the attention he obviously deserved, but my reign as the preferred child seems to have ended, and to be perfectly honest, I wasn't all that okay with it.

"Jazz?" Danny's low voice trickled into my ears later that night. Our parents had gone off to bed in their own tent, and I was busy pretending to be asleep in ours. It had been a rotten day and I was looking forward to returning to Amity Park in the morning. Nobody had even bothered to _try_ and abide by my no-ghosts rule, not even Danny, who I thought would enjoy a weekend of freedom from being practically worshipped for being half-ghost. I knew he hated the paparazzi and mobs of people that followed him around all the time; why wouldn't he take a break from all that and enjoy being just regular ol' Danny Fenton for a weekend?

"I know you're awake, Jazz," he said impatiently.

Sighing into my pillow, I rolled over onto my other side and faced him. He was definitely not the puny fourteen year old he used to be. His face used to have this permanent look of nervousness whenever he spoke to me, but ever since he learned that I knew his secret, that had faded somewhat. Now that _everyone _knew, that apprehension had disappeared completely in lieu of a surprising display of total self-assuredness.

"I'm trying to sleep Danny, what can I do for you?"

He frowned and sat down on his own sleeping bag, observing me quietly. "I had a great weekend. Didn't you?"

"Hardly," I muttered as I scratched the painful mosquito bites that had popped up along my arms.

"Come on Jazz, you used to be so much fun! What's with the obsession over your little rules? You're turning into Walker or something."

He laughed after this, so I assumed he meant it as a joke.

I sighed again. "See Danny? That's what I mean. I just wanted to have a nice weekend with my insane family, but with everyone undermining my so-called 'little rules' it's rather hard to have a good time."

"You need to just relax and forget about rules then," he said firmly. "If I don't care about using my powers here and there, then why should you?"

"Because you're not giving yourself a chance to be normal for even five seconds!" I blurted out. I simply could not catch myself in time. My brother had gone through so much since the accident that gave him these powers in the first place, and now he seemed to be stuck in a rut that was forcing him to constantly choose between his two identities.

"Jazz," he said slowly, with a tiny, amused smile creeping onto his face. "This _is_ normal for me. Better than that, actually, because Mom and Dad aren't trying to kill me or dissect me every time they see me anymore. Can't you see that this makes me happy? Besides, if you're looking for 'normal' then I'm afraid you were born into the wrong family," he laughed.

In spite of myself, I smiled. He may have terrible grades in school, but Danny could be surprisingly insightful at times.

"Well, if you're happy...then I guess I can't complain too much."

I crawled over to him and gave him a hug. He initially put up a protest, but returned the hug when I playfully ordered him to. After a few seconds, he tried breaking away, but I was enjoying our little sibling bonding moment and forced him to endure a few more seconds. We'd be back to fighting tomorrow, no doubt; I wanted to enjoy this harmony while I could.

Only when I felt his body disappear beneath my grasp did I open my eyes and realize he had intangibly escaped the entrapments of my embrace. He was now sitting a foot away, smirking.

"_Danny!_"

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><p><strong>Jazz and Danny's sibling-ship reminds me of me and my best friend (except I like to think I'm more fun than Jazz), making these two characters very fun to write in scenes together. <strong>

**Next chapter: driving lessons (another Jazz & Danny centric one-shot). **

**Reviews, as always, are greatly appreciated :)**


	3. The Art of Road Rage

**Don't expect daily updates like I've been doing lately…I was just really excited to write this chapter, so it took precedence over my other stories at the moment. Ghostly stuff aside, a lot of this is based on personal experiences of teaching my friend how to drive (note: not a smart idea, but 2-3 years later, my car is still, more or less, intact xD). I hope you all have as much fun reading it as I did writing it :)**

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><p>"Danny!"<p>

Danny, who in spite of his beeping alarm clock, was still asleep, jolted awake at the sound of his sister's voice calling him from downstairs.

"Where's the ghost?" he yelled as he stumbled out of bed, trying to make sense of the situation in his half-conscious state. Seeing the clock flashing 7:54am at him, Danny fell into panic mode.

"A little privacy?" he barked at Jazz as his door flew open in the midst of him trying to change from pajama bottoms to jeans.

"I need you to fly me to school," Jazz said, ignoring his previous statement. "My car won't start."

"How's that _my_ problem?" Danny asked as he hurriedly threw on his usual red and white shirt. Getting his backpack ready for the school day wasn't difficult: just wiping off that book he had spilled some water on earlier and tossing it in with the rest of the crumpled up, incomplete homework assignments, and he was good to go.

"Please Danny," Jazz begged him. "Mom and Dad took the RV this morning and I have an important exam in my statistics class today!"

Danny rolled his eyes. Leave it to Jazz to freak out over her perfect stats grade while he was still struggling to pass his basic algebra class in order to qualify for remedial geometry. Maybe she really was adopted, because sadly that kind of intelligence was not seen anywhere else in the Fenton bloodline.

"If I do, what will you do for me?" he smirked as Jazz grabbed him by the wrist and dragged him down the stairs.

"I have to _bribe_ you?" Jazz asked, clearly astonished.

Danny turned his arm intangible and crossed it with his other arm to prove a point.

Jazz's eye twitched as she glanced down at her watch. "Fine! Anything! Tutoring, chores, whatever-"

"I want to learn to drive your car."

"What? You're fourteen!"

Danny shrugged. "So?"

"It won't start."

"Once it's fixed, then."

Jazz stared blankly at him, unable to fully process his request. "But _why_?"

Again, Danny shrugged. "Just so I can say I've driven something _normal_. Not the assault vehicle, not the Specter Speeder..."

"Fine! Just once, though, okay? Now can you _please _take me to school?" she cried in a frantic voice.

Danny's face lit up as he transformed. "Can't wait!"

With that, he grabbed his sister's wrist, turned them both intangible and made it to school in less than two minutes. He dropped Jazz off at her classroom entrance one full minute before the bell rang, but he was late to his own class. Luckily Lancer had since given up on giving him detentions…

**oOoOoOo**

Three days later, Jazz's car was finally ready to be picked up from the mechanic's. She happily drove home with Mozart humming faintly from her favorite radio station, and the engine sounded as good as new. Nothing could ruin this day.

Until she saw her little brother leaning against the garage with a satisfied smirk on his face.

"Ready to go?"

"But...I have homework-" Jazz spluttered through the car's open window, but Danny would hear nothing of it. She hated how the old lock-the-car-doors-to-keep-someone-out trick didn't work with him, as he easily just phased inside and lounged back in the passenger's seat.

Having a brother with ghost powers could be a real drag at times.

"Where to?" he asked cheerfully.

"Nowhere unless you're wearing a seatbelt," Jazz snapped at him.

"But-"

"_Danny_," she said exasperatedly, "Intangibility powers or not, you wear a seatbelt when you're in my car."

Rolling his eyes, Danny reluctantly did what she asked, but only so they could get moving sooner.

Meanwhile, Jazz was struggling with the fact that she was encouraging rule breaking by agreeing to let him drive her car. Sure, it _was _just Danny, and while she knew he was responsible in his own ways, allowing him to inch his way around the rules of the road wasn't going to do any good for his outlook on societal laws in general. But surely the magnitude of this minor infraction would have no significant impact on him, right?

_Wrong,_ Jazz thought silently to herself as she drove into an abandoned parking lot a few minutes away from Fenton Works. She hesitated in giving him the keys, but after reminding herself that this was the same kid who basically saved the world from destruction not too long ago, she knew she shouldn't be so overprotective. Then again, maybe those feelings were bubbling to the surface in defense of her _car_, not Danny himself.

Once settled, Jazz thought it strange that a kid who could overshadow people and fly at speeds breaking the one hundred miles per hour barrier could get so excited over something as trivial as driving an old sedan around a parking lot.

"Brakes, Danny!"

"I know what I'm doing Jazz, calm down."

Danny drove fast. Whether it was spurred by an overreliance on video games for the majority of his youth before ghost fighting came into the picture or just an innate need for speed, Jazz couldn't say. But driving her precious car in upwards of forty miles per hour in this tiny lot was really testing her patience!

"Hey, what does this do?" Danny would ask every few minutes.

Before allowing his sister enough time to respond, he would press a button or pull on a lever to fulfil his curious inspections. One time, he turned on the windshield wipers, which startled him so badly that he slammed on the gas. After a few tense seconds of Jazz's ridiculously high pitched screaming, his mind figured out where the brakes were located again and brought the car back to a halt.

When that crisis was averted, Jazz demanded to get back in the driver's seat, but after much pleading and coercing, Danny managed to convince her to let him practice for a few more minutes.

Much to her annoyance, Danny turned on the radio while he was cruising along— "_Keep both hands on the wheel at all times!_"— and after complaining about the instrumental 'garbage' that was currently playing, he switched it to some crude station that was blasting out Dumpty Humpty.

The one thing that truly worried Jazz was that he kept forgetting the difference between the brakes and the gas pedal. That led to a lot of jerky starts and stops, but at least they hadn't crashed…yet.

It had been nearly an hour of going in circles and serpentines around the parking lot before Jazz told him that driving time was over. Or else.

"Just one more thing," Danny said, allowing his inquisitiveness to get the better of him as he switched the car into reverse.

"Danny no!"

Not realizing what the fuss was about, Danny accidentally released the wheel and punched the gas. The car flew backwards in a zig-zag formation, headed for the nearest building.

The siblings both screamed at the top of their lungs, seeing their impending doom unfold before their very eyes.

However, while Danny didn't know how to find the brakes, there was always his _preferred_ form of back up.

Just before they hit the curb, which was a couple feet away from an expensive-looking marble statue, Danny turned the entire car intangible. Jazz continued shrieking at the top of her lungs as they flew through the building, whooshing past several cubicles and sending stacks of paper flying from the gust of wind they created.

While Jazz was busy panicking, Danny cheerfully waved at a janitor just before they zoomed out of the building and into another parking lot that was located on the other side. Only when they landed did Danny manage to find the brakes and bring the car to a full halt. Once Jazz's violently shaking hands put it in park, Danny made the vehicle tangible once more.

He knew his sister was going to kill him later. Her entire face was as red as a rose and her body was still trembling uncontrollably.

"How-"

"I've actually done that before, believe it or not," Danny grinned. "I guess we know who's driving skills I inherited!"

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><p><strong>...<strong>

**For those who haven't watched DP in a while, the last line is a reference to the flying car scene in "What You Want." **

**Hope you all enjoyed reading this and stay tuned for the next update: weapons testing with Jack and Danny!**

**Review? :)**


	4. An Unlikely Partnership

**Thank you for your comments on the previous chapter. And because there aren't enough Jack/Danny bonding fics (loved these two together in "GNO"), this one will be one of my first attempts at father/son bonding. Written from Danny's POV. Enjoy :)**

When you're floating over eight hundred feet in the air, Amity Park looks pretty amazing. You can see the endless rows of homes for miles on a clear day, with not a single disruption in the perfect construction of cookie-cutter residences, except for well, my house.

I could be twenty feet in the air and still know exactly where Fenton Works is, with my parents' obnoxious glowing sign and the monstrous Op Center posing as the roof. But from way up here, even that seemed more muted in comparison to the vast backdrop scenery.

All was calm. Birds were flying some hundred feet below me in their typical 'V' patterns, and to my left, I could see the ant-sized troublemaking students finally being released from their Saturday detention at Casper High. Normally I would've been with them, but since the asteroid incident, Lancer seems to have sworn off giving me detentions for good. Who knew the old man had a heart after all?

As usual, this peace didn't last for long.

I saw a vibrant flash of green shoot off from the ground, headed straight towards me. Attempting to make a speedy getaway, I dodged right, but it followed my path. Plunging downward to avoid its trajectory, I realized this must have been one of those missiles that dial in on its target, ensuring a direct hit.

Just as I was about to turn intangible, it struck me. Surprisingly, it didn't hurt too much, but the force of the blow was enough to screw up my ghost powers.

I couldn't tell if I was actually screaming or if it was all just in my head, but one thing I did know for sure after the two rings went along my body: I was in for a painful landing.

Falling from over eight hundred feet in the air can be the scariest thing imaginable for most people. Luckily my ghost powers usually prevent me from getting into such frightening circumstances, but this time I was in free fall and there didn't seem to be anything I could do about it.

As I plummeted closer and closer towards the ground, the orange-clad figure came into focus. It was my dad.

Now, as much as I hate admitting it, Mom was right. She had warned us about going to the secluded area of the park for weapons testing, but my dad had sided with me, saying the ever-ominous, "What's the worst that can happen?"

It had been several months since my parents made their vow to create weapons that were guaranteed _not_ to harm ghosts, but while this was certainly a step in the right direction, this meant that they needed a willing test subject to ensure the safety measures of their weapons arsenal.

I had readily volunteered, whether it was out of my innate need for an adrenaline rush or driven by the guilt I still felt for lying to my parents for so long. Whatever it was, my mom had thrown a fit when I first offered.

"Absolutely not! Our old weapons have already done enough damage-"

"Trust me, Mom, I've seen worse."

In retrospect, that wasn't the best thing to tell my own mother. Ever since she found out that I was also Phantom, she has been a little…well, overprotective. More than Jazz, even. She wanted me to give up ghost fighting altogether, stating the usual "You're just fourteen" crap that so many others before her had said.

I understand where she's coming from, being my mom and all, but it took a lot of coaxing and even more compromising before she would change her stance on this. I know Mom wants what's best for me, but I wouldn't be able to bear knowing that people are out there, getting attacked by ghosts, while I sit in my room, unable to do anything about it. While she and my dad had initially offered to take over for me, it had taken quite a long time to explain that they have their own jobs to attend to—they _do_ make money, right?—and even with their advanced weaponry, it was hard to beat having your own ghost powers.

Luckily, I had enough tact that night not to mention that, technically speaking, I'm already half dead so what difference would a few bumps and bruises make, anyway? I know Mom would've lost it at that point, so keeping her cool and calm has been my objective ever since.

So, back to my terrifying free falling…

I was so close to the ground that I could now make out some of my dad's facial features. He looked like he was panicking, having not expected whatever weapon was in his hand to have such a powerful effect on my ghost powers. I hadn't anticipated that, either, but I had to come home in one piece or we'd have to suffer through the humiliation of admitting that Mom had been right. That would mean the end of weapons testing with Dad, and possibly my ghost fighting career.

It was strange to think that volunteering to be a target could be considered father-son bonding, but for my dad and me it worked. It's like going paintballing, where you know the potential for getting hurt is there, but you're having so much fun that you don't even care.

Just as I passed the peak of a tall tree, I finally managed to change back. I was going too fast to stop before hitting the ground, but thankfully my intangibility prevented a nasty collision with the earth.

"Nice job, Danny!" my dad slapped me heartily on the back when I reappeared. The grin on his face told me that he had barely registered just how close I had come to slamming into the ground in my human form, but safety had never been high on the Fentons' list of desired qualities, so it was easy to let it slide.

"Thanks Dad," I grinned, combing back the white hair that was dangling in my face.

He then offered me a sandwich.

For a moment, I nearly started laughing at the sheer ridiculousness of it all. One moment, he's shooting his latest weapon prototype at me, the next, giving me lunch. It was a welcomed change from the old "molecule by molecule" harangues, however, and the fact that I could have a somewhat calm picnic with my dad in my ghost form in between rounds was simply awesome.

My parents still got to do their research and weapons development, but now things were more on my terms and I had two less opponents to worry about. And now that my dad knew that my life revolved around ghosts nearly as much as his—whether I wanted mine to or not—he was spending more time with me than he ever had in the past fourteen years of my life.

"Ready for Round Four?"

I leaped into the air just as I saw his hands going for a nearby laser gun. Once I flew a safe distance upwards, I turned around and smirked.

"You're on!"

**I can **_**not**_** get enough of Fenton family bonding. So much fun to write. Next chapter: Maddie finds Jazz's scrapbook and decides to take a closer look. Cute Maddie/Danny bonding to come. **

**Let me know what you thought of this one! ;)**


	5. The Scrapbook

**I loved writing this chapter. Maddie and Danny barely interact, but get ready for some cute bonding :)**

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><p>After their second child was born, Jack and Maddie Fenton decided it was time to upgrade from their tiny apartment. The 'master bedroom' was barely large enough to accommodate the young parents, let alone two adults and a crib for baby Danny. Also, with Jasmine reaching her terrible twos, they were going to need to give her the room they were currently using for ecto-experimentation. That meant either the kitchen would have to be converted into a makeshift lab, or they were going to have to buy a bigger home.<p>

With the help of a governmental grant funding their research, Jack and Maddie went with the latter option.

While the enormous lab in the basement and opportunity to build an emergency Op Center on the roof were excellent advantages to moving up, Maddie hadn't expected a bigger home to be so much work. Raising two young kids with minimal help from her husband was hard enough, but cooking, cleaning, _and_ squeezing in some time for her own experiments on the side? Unless she wanted to sleep two hours per night, it simply wasn't feasible.

For many years, Maddie let her ghost research activities go by the wayside in favor of spending more time with her kids—particularly Danny, who was such a momma's boy for the majority of his childhood—but when Danny began nearing his teenaged years, Maddie decided it was time to build something she had wanted to finish since her college days: a ghost portal.

It took about a year to get all of the calculations and measurements just right. Meanwhile, her children were slowly growing apart from her and getting busier with their own lives. Jazz was obsessed with reading and her academics and oftentimes spent countless hours at the public library after school in lieu of coming home to spend time with the family.

Jazz had always been like that, however, so Maddie hardly noticed it. It was Danny who puzzled her.

Maddie had been devastated when her ultimate invention—the Fenton portal—turned out to be a bust, and was considering giving up ghost-related activities altogether in order to go back to her primary role as a mother to her two amazing kids. But there was a slight accident in the lab involving Danny, and soon after that, he began avoiding the family at all costs. The change in her little boy had been so sudden that Maddie would lie awake at night, trying to figure out what caused such a drastic change in her son.

With the appearance of dozens of new ghosts in Amity Park—including one strange spectral figure who called himself Danny Phantom—Maddie reluctantly returned to ghost hunting, having been unable to get through to Danny. This was just a part of growing up, she supposed; she only wished it hadn't been so sudden.

It would have been nice if 'growing up' also meant helping out more around the house, but alas, Danny shirked his chores more than ever.

Only now did Maddie understand why.

As she walked into Jazz's room with the vacuum, Maddie noticed a thick book lying open on her daughter's desk. As a mom, she knew that she ought to respect her children's privacy, but one particular entry caught her eye.

_Danny Phantom Saves Kids_

That was the headline of an old newspaper article Jazz had cut and pasted into what Maddie now realized was a scrapbook.

"That's the fifth heroic act this week," Maddie whispered under her breath, smiling at the memory. Oh, how could she have been so blind?

"_At least that we know about," _her daughter had said at the time, with Danny standing right next to her. Maddie wondered why she never stopped to think about why Jazz might be so interested in the ghost boy's heroism. From the looks of this chock-full scrapbook, she had known about Danny's secret for quite a long time, whilst Maddie had only discovered it two months ago.

Leaving the vacuum alone for now, Maddie gently grabbed the scrapbook and sat on Jazz's bed to skim through it.

_Inviso-Bill: Hero or Menace?_

Maddie chuckled at the former nickname Danny had somehow acquired in his early days. It was quite ridiculous, but it admittedly did a better job of concealing his secret identity than 'Danny Phantom.' Not that it mattered, since apparently nobody ever noticed the similarities.

_Million Dollar Ghost: The Hunt for Public Ghost Enemy #1_

Maddie sighed. If she had had any idea that she was capturing her own son and turning him in for ransom, she would have instead fought off every ghost hunter that attempted to harm her baby boy. Looking back, she had certainly been shocked that she and her husband had so easily captured the elusive ghost, who had been harmlessly floating over the kitchen table in a home of known ghost hunters.

There were dozens of other articles ranging from positive support to raging hate, though it seemed that Jazz chose to minimize the inclusion of the hate-fuelled articles. There were also several pictures; some of just Danny, an old faded one of Danny and Sam, and a newer one of Jazz hugging Danny, who looked torn between annoyance and affection for his sister. And of course, more newspaper pictures of him saving Amity Park residents from ghost attacks.

The sheer number of brave and charitable things her son had done in his time as a half ghost was astounding.

A wave of guilt washed over her as she remembered all of the times she had harped on him for coming home after curfew, doing poorly on a test, or forgetting to finish his chores. It would have been easier to let these things slide if she had known what he was _really_ doing, but then again, Danny had every right to be terrified about admitting his secret.

Maddie sighed as she quietly shut the scrapbook and returned it to Jazz's desk. While she was thrilled to see just how close her two children had grown over the course of their ghost-fighting adventures, a part of her wished to have back the same closeness she once had with Danny.

Perhaps that could change now that Danny didn't need to hide secrets and lie anymore. While he was very busy trying to avoid the mobs of fans, he _did_ seem to be making more of an effort to come home more often. And it had only been two months; there was still plenty of time to amend their mother and son relationship.

That afternoon, when Danny arrived home, Maddie greeted him at the door with a hug.

"What was that for?" he laughed.

"I'm proud of you, sweetie," Maddie smiled softly. Her little boy wasn't so little anymore; he didn't even look like the awkward teenager he used to be. The boy in front of her was brimming with confidence and bravery—even if he still had his occasional moments of clumsiness. Yes, it had been a dramatic change from childhood to adulthood (almost), but Maddie had a bragging right that pretty much no other parent could claim: her son was a hero.

Grinning, Danny actually hugged her back. It was one of the few hugs he had initiated over the years, making this one all the more valuable.

The chubby little boy who once begged to help her with laundry may be gone but Danny—the hero of Amity Park and imperfect son who still tried his best—was here to stay.

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><p><strong>Bwaahhh…I love MaddieDanny bonding. Next chapter: filling out college apps (it'll be funnier than it sounds xD). Reviews are appreciated :)**


	6. NoFly List

**(The actual story is pretty good, I promise, but I need to rant first):**

**Rage. Frustration. "Why the heck am I awake at 3am going through this crap?" moments. **

**To clarify, I'm leaving for a six month stint in Europe soon (wish it was London, but alas, it's not) and the utter insanity of the international bureaucratic system is driving me up the walls. Instead of going into a full-blown vent fest, I forced my eyes away from governmental regulatory websites and moseyed over to Word to torture Danny for a bit. I was planning for a college apps-based oneshot this time around, but in real life, I'm more concerned about visa applications at the mo', so this instalment is the result of dpluver losing her marbles. Enjoy! *crazy, Joker-ish laughter***

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><p>"I can't believe we're already going home."<p>

"Well, it's not like you're going to be away for too much longer, Jazz. When does your first semester start?"

"The end of August, but still! This was fun...and relatively normal for once."

Danny rolled his eyes. "If you forget the mobs of photographers chasing us down the streets on horseback, then sure, it was totally normal."

"How is that my fault?"

"I'm not blaming you-" Danny started to say before retracting it, "-Actually, I am. _You_ were the one to tell Mom and Dad, remember?"

Jazz put her hands on her hips. "We thought you _died_! What did you expect me to say? 'Oops, Danny fell into a snowdrift and is gone forever; too bad, so sad'?"

Danny snickered at the mental image. "No, I'm just saying that you deserve the blame for the British paparazzi hounding us all over the place. Though I'm sure you won't mind when all this attention wins you some Oxford guys this semester."

"That's not my intention at all," Jazz replied hotly. "Conversation _over_. Let's go find Mom and Dad, our flight's supposed to leave in two hours and we haven't even gone through customs yet!"

"Is it really that hard to find them?" Danny grumbled, pointing to the baggage cart machine, where his dad was trying to forcibly yank a Smarte Carte out.

"Jack, please, you're creating a scene," they could hear their mom trying to console him.

"Machine…ate…my...quarters," Jack grunted furiously as he tugged on the cart.

"Maybe because quarters aren't part of the official currency in the U.K.," Jazz snapped at him as her mom and brother hurriedly dragged him away before airport security came running in.

"Is there a problem here?" a lone security official glanced suspiciously at each of the Fentons.

"No sir, I think we'll be fine now," Jazz said tersely, glaring at her dad. "Let's go, already, we're going to miss our flight!"

The family left Jack with the duty of watching over the luggage as they walked up to the ticketing counter to display their passports and get their boarding passes. The ticketing lady didn't seem to be in a great mood, despite Maddie's half-hearted attempts to lighten her up.

"Jack Fenton?"

Maddie pointed to where her husband was standing. _Stamp._

"Jasmine Fenton?"

"Right here," Jazz said eagerly, calming down the enthusiasm only when the woman scowled at her. _Stamp._

"Madeline Fenton?"

"That's me," Maddie laughed nervously as she took her freshly-stamped passport.

"And Daniel...Fenton? Hold on one moment."

Danny darted a worried glance at his mom and sister. His parents and Jazz's passports had been accepted without a hitch; what was wrong with his? His pulse quickened as he waited for the ticketing lady to finish whatever she was searching for on the computer database.

"I'm sure there's nothing wrong, Danny-" Maddie tried comforting him before she was interrupted by the employee:

"I'm sorry Mr. Fenton, but you've been placed on the No-Fly list."

At first, Danny laughed. "What?"

He immediately regretted this as the stern woman pressed a button, calling for airport security.

"You can't be serious!" Danny exclaimed as two guards showed up behind them.

"Now hold on just a minute, why is my son on a No-Fly list?" Maddie demanded to the woman behind the counter.

The lady shrugged indifferently. "Ask the higher-ups, ma'am. _Next!_"

"Mom...?" Danny asked, bewildered as the airport security officials began leading him away.

"Jasmine, stay with your father, I'll go with Danny."

Jazz looked ready to argue, but reluctantly agreed and returned to the family's assortment of luggage, where her dad was impatiently waiting.

Danny considered intangibly escaping through their restraints, but decided against it after mulling through the possibility of being labeled as a threat to airport security. He was grateful that his mom was following them as they led him away from their fellow airline passengers and into an employees-only corridor. He had absolutely no idea where they were taking him or why he wasn't permitted to fly—irony was so, so cruel—but something about this situation was beginning to make him fear the worst.

They led him into a quiet examination room, in which there was but a single, stainless steel desk with a wooden chair on either side. His mom tried to follow them inside, but they stopped her and shut the door before she could get in a single word. Seeing a mirror across from where he was sitting, Danny instantly recognized it as one of those one-way mirrors, which allowed viewers on the outside to see in, but not vice versa.

Once the two guards released him and exited the room, Danny was alone for a few minutes. It was rather awkward, knowing that just on the other side of that mirror, there could have been dozens of people watching him. But he barely moved a muscle, so at least they weren't getting much of a show.

At last, an important-looking official walked in, carrying a thin paper file.

"Mr. Phantom," he said once he was situated in his seat across from Danny and had begun browsing through the file.

"Uh, actually it's Fenton," he corrected the older man nervously. An overwhelming urge to turn invisible struck him with the same intensity as the man's glare, but he forced himself to remain in full view for the sake of his so far non-existent criminal record.

"Do you understand why you were placed on the No-Fly list?"

"No, but I'm assuming you're about to tell me what heinous crime I got blamed for this time?"

"Watch your tongue," the man snapped. "As I was saying, you were placed on the list after this creature flew out of your luggage."

"Creature? What—oh god no."

Danny's jaw dropped as the man held up a picture of the Box Ghost. But he had secured the Fenton thermos just before they left for the airport! Had his dad abandoned the luggage for a while without them realizing it?

"Let's see, harboring a fugitive-"

"-you actually think I'd _want_ to keep him around?"

"-illegal importation of foreigners-"

"-he's just a ghost!"

"-perhaps kidnapping charges-"

"-listen to me, this is just-"

"-and what was it he said?" the man asked aloud. "'Where are the boxes?' Tell me, Mr. Phantom-"

"-_Fenton_-"

"-what _boxes_ was this creature-"

"-_ghost_-"

"-referring to?" the man demanded, his face turning red from Danny's constant interruptions.

Danny rolled his eyes and tilted back in his chair with his feet resting carelessly on the edges of the table. "It's just the stupid Box Ghost, I swear. He's not a danger to anyone and neither am-"

"-could it be that those _boxes_ to which he was referring contained some kind of national security threat?"

"Huh?" Danny's soles lost their grip on the smooth edges of the table, sending him flying over backwards in his chair.

"Mr. Fenton! Do you not realize the direness of your situation?" the man shouted after Danny had crashed onto the floor.

Although his ribs were somewhat crushed from the painful landing, Danny laughed. "Sure thing, dude. Just leave me on your No-Fly list and I'll fly myself home. No big deal. Can I leave now?"

"We haven't resolved the matter of the boxes-"

"-check the baggage claim, I'm sure he'll turn up there eventually. I could catch him for you...but oh, damn, that's right, you confiscated my thermos! Good luck!"

Danny waved to the dumbstruck official as he exited the room via intangibility, no longer caring about playing by the rules. He had honestly forgotten all about the thermos until the end of his ten day visit. He had wanted Jazz's Oxford orientation to go as smoothly as possible, without the constant annoyance of unwelcome ghostly intruders. As it turned out, he didn't need to use the thermos or go ghost once this entire visit.

His mom hugged him on his way out. "Did they let you go, sweetie?"

"Sort of," Danny smirked. "I don't think they're taking me off the No-Fly list, though. You go on with Dad and Jazz, I'll get home eventually."

"Absolutely not! We'll stay and help you find that ghost to help you prove your innocence!"

Danny pondered over his options for a moment. It was either accept his fate and fly home as he assured the official he would do anyway, or corral the everlastingly irritating Box Ghost and show airport security just how harmless he was.

On second thought, stranding him thousands of miles away from home without directions back to Amity Park sounded pretty good, too.

Danny grinned. "Nah, let's leave him here. I'll be fine on my own, don't worry about me."

The two walked outside to a more secluded area where the vacated taxis were parked and hugged for a brief moment before Danny transformed and waved goodbye.

"I always do," she sighed as she watched her son fly away.

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><p><strong>There. I feel much more sane now. Fanfiction: the ultimate stress reliever. Who knew? It's been over a year since I've traveled internationally, so I could have gotten the customs part completely wrong (and I know this means an improbably long flight home for Danny), but it's fiction for a reason, so don't pelt me with tomatoes ;)<strong>

**Comments, as always, are appreciated. I'm off to sleep now. **


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